Now that the brew house is almost fully operational, I'm wondering if people (members, friends, family, complete strangers, wealthy patrons - mostly the last one) would be willing to help the brew house out with equipment.
The best place to start is your own equipment: Do you have an extra funnel or hydrometer? An extra carboy you don't use? An extra bottle of StarSan? I will offer to pick up any equipment from your place and bring it to the brew house for you.
If you or others are willing to purchase, here are just a few places to start:
http://www.cornykeg.com/store.asp?pid=29554&catid=19985
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/for/2541791255.html
I say start saving bottles, yes. I just dry-hopped an IPA for which I'll need bottles (our space is limited both in closets and the fridge so I will send some people home with six-packs as well as leave some at the 914 Brew House).
I will be out and about tomorrow getting the shelving; I can grab some cheap rags.
I will also gladly pay for the first round of sanitizer. Does anyone have a line on an industrial size of StarSan?
Free, tightly-sealing buckets sound fine by me! I will still pick up the under-the-counter bins and we can use it for storing other stuff (misc. equipment or whatever) since storage seems to be at a premium.
I have a shit ton of bottle caps to donate and a capper as well...
I think after me and Chuck left our stuff we should be good on brew equipment. There's two of everything you would need mostly (2 wort chillers, still 3 5 gallon pots, 1 15 gallon pot that will fit well over two burners on the stovetop, I think we can do ten gallons that way).
Things we don't have for the space and need are: Cleaning rags, bottle caps, a good supply of airlocks and stoppers. We could use a house supply of sanitizer and cleaner but we need to find out how to pay for that. I think everyone is just going to have to bring their own unless someone wants to donate (someone besides iggi and dave please, they've already spent too much money).
The vacuum seal thing is just not going to work. It's overkill, unnecessary, expensive when it comes to the bags, and a downright pain in the ass. We tried it last night. Consensus was the only thing we're going to vacuum seal from now on is specialty grain that's going to be stored over a long period of time, things like black patent or roasted barley, crystal or smoked. I vote free buckets from work unless you want to pay for something from home depot that will seal as tight.
Agreed. I'm going to try to find some bins at Home Despot or somewhere which seal really tightly. There's also Dave's idea about vacuum sealing grain into set amount bags; that way even if water gets in the bins it won't ruin the grain...
I took a quick spin around the brew space a few weeks ago and I agree space is tight. I had suggested buckets to store the grain since they are (relatively) easy to move out of the way and can be stored smack dab in the middle of the floor when the brew space is not in use. Pots can hang from the rafters; maybe one of the tables needs to turn into a baker's rack sort of deal where we can store misc. pots/pans/equip.
We also need to put some good thought into how much will actually fit into the space. We unloaded those 8 sacks of grain and with the barrels, kegs, and carboys there right now, space is getting a bit tight. I'm thinking it's going to be sort of a pain to even brew there tomorrow. Those storage shelves under the tables will help a lot but then we have to think about whether it's smart to store grain below the level that the space flooded at previously. The last thing we want is to lose 4-500 lbs of grain to a hard rain. I'm working on getting some food grade pails from work, and those seal pretty damn tight. Would have had some today but our store was a fiaso, the power was off and on all day. Those might work.
Should we give you some spoons and call you our "Ides of Cider" headliner, Iggi?
Agreed; equipment and ingredients on separate lists.
Agreed, too, on indicating we no longer need an item. Though, re-selling a donated item for brew house funds - or even re-gifting to a member if that member is in need - is always an option if we are ever in that fortunate situation.
I will get six bins (2 for each slot under the tables). Or, should I get 8 or since we can store stuff under the other table? This also begs the question, should we convert any/all tables down there to shelves? Let me know if the latter is the case. I was planning on getting only three shelves and six bins but if we want to do the others for storage, let me know.
but then how will i play spoon man?
David Williams said:
...igz...
Good idea with the inventory tracking. I have a bunch of stuff there right now. I will also be throwing some additional carboys down there once I get a chance.
We need to also figure out a good place for everything. Also, once we know what some people are willing to house at 914, we should indicate that we no longer need that item. No sense in having 10 mash tuns or spoons.
Last night Dan and I dropped off grain. Some we broke into smaller quantities (until we ran out of bags). Others we put in a can or box for storage. We should prob make different list for grain and equipment.
I will contribute shortly. I'm thinking about doing really small, two- to three-gallon batches at home just to experiment with different ingredients so that means I can contribute some carboys, blow-off tubes, &c.
This begs the question about tracking inventory. My suggestion: we label all brew house equipment so that we know it belongs to the brew; individuals are responsible for labeling their personal equipment which will reside in the brew house for collective use; we have a master clip-board inventory of ingredients at the brew house and they subtract from their total when using and add to their total when purchasing. I can write up some "ingredient inventory" sheets and photocopy them to leave at the brew house.
so far, i brought over 2 corny's, steel 5 gal pot, steel spoon, my "incubation chamber" and fishtank heater, blow off tube, air locks, fermentation bucket, thermometer, gravity reader, sanitizer, bottle tree.
soon to be followed by another corny keg, glass carboy, another 5 gal pot.
...igz...
even cheaper for steel pots..i got mine for $10 buck. Dave did as well. at the cheapo store (dont remember name) thats across from high dive (where the wings at). steel. $10. 5 gal.
...igz...